Peering into the Living Brain of Alzheimer's DiseaseAlternatives to Animal Testing, Experimentation and Dissection - An Animal
Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

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The ability of the amyloid PET scanner to deliver
critical information on brain pathology of living patients is in sharp
contrast to over two decades of failed attempts to genetically manipulate
mice to study this intricate, human disease.

A new brain imaging technology is allowing researchers to visualize the
accumulation of toxic amyloid deposits in the living human brain as never
before. The deposits are the hallmark of Alzheimer’s diseases, and may also
be found in other neurodegenerative diseases.

The Amyvid amyloid PET imaging tracer is being used by scientists at the
Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center (CNADC) at Northwestern
University. The new technology is enabling researchers to study what until
recently could only be examined through autopsies of individuals who had
died from Alzheimer’s disease. By then the brain was overcome with amyloid
deposits and offered little insight into the precise evolution of disease.

Now information obtained from the amyloid PET imaging allows clinicians
to see the precise location of amyloid deposits in living patients. This
affects the diagnosis and directs the proper treatment, allowing for
appropriate early intervention.

Current research at Northwestern has honed in on a form of dementia known
as primary progressive aphasia, (PPA) a condition that causes individuals to
have difficulty speaking, including expressing and recalling words.

Amyvid imaging has revealed that the build-up of amyloid proteins is
greater on the left side of the brain in PPA patients, which is where the
brain processes language. It also demonstrated that the brain distribution
of amyloid protein varied between those with memory dementia versus PPA.

The ability of the amyloid PET scanner to deliver critical information on
brain pathology of living patients is in sharp contrast to over two decades
of failed attempts to genetically manipulate mice to study this intricate,
human disease.

Since then, attempts to develop more accurate mouse models continue to
fail. In 2014, Nature Neuroscience reported on an improved mouse model
declaring "New mouse model could revolutionize research in Alzheimer's
disease."

Apparently not. The Jackson Laboratory, a world leader in genetically
modified mouse models, reported in January 2016, “… therapies that have
looked encouraging in preclinical [animal] research have failed to fulfill
their promise in human clinical trials to this point.”

Two decades, millions of dollars and untold millions of animals’ lives
later, it is indefensible that scientists are still seeking to develop
better mouse models for Alzheimer’s disease research.

The death toll on genetically modified animals is alarming. Many are
simply put to death because they don’t meet the desired criteria. Huge
numbers die from complications of genetic abnormalities, often suffering
considerably before they die.

Even the Jackson lab concludes, “The first step toward such needed
medical progress is to research Alzheimer's disease in ways that are more
relevant to the human disease.”

We couldn’t agree more. Instead of continuing to pour vast resources into
a failed and inhumane methodology, scientists must seriously pursue
opportunities to study human Alzheimer’s disease, not try to replicate it
vainly – and ad nauseum – in animals.

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